Fireflies complete first home sweep

The Fireflies notched their first series sweep at Spirit Communications Park Wednesday afternoon. Columbia (24-22) beat Augusta, 7-4, behind Kevin Canelon’s solid pitching performance. The left-hander tossed six innings and struck out six batters.

Pat Mazeika punched a single to left-center field off of GreenJackets’ lefty Grant Watson (2-4) to drive in Vinny Siena, who crossed home plate seven times in the series.

Augusta (21-25) got to Canelon (W, 3-3) in the top of the third, pushing across three runs for the lead.

The Fireflies chipped at the deficit in the bottom half of the third. Siena doubled and stole third base, before scoring on Kevin Kaczmarski’s sacrifice fly.

Columbia took control in the fifth, when five of the first six batters reached via a hit. Mazeika’s bases-clearing double highlighted the hit parade. Columbia’s designated hitter drove in four runs in the game and is batting .444 (12-for-27) with 7 RBIs in his first eight games of the season.

Jose Garcia added a run-scoring double in the eighth.

Bullpen arms Tyler Bashlor and Alex Palsha pitched the final three innings and allowed just one run combined. While Columbia’s offense dominated the series, the pitching staff allowed just seven runs total in the three-game set.

The Fireflies hit the road on Thursday to visit the West Virginia Power for a four-game series at Appalachian Power Park.